Jakarta’s ‘Great Garuda’ Project: Profits for Re-emerging Elites in the Name of Climate Change

by Wilmar Salim, Keith Bettinger, Micah Fisher

East-West Wire

Jakarta has faced chronic flooding for years, primarily because the land is sinking due to unsustainable groundwater extraction and excessive building and construction loads. A re-emerging development coalition that includes government officials, private developers, and international investors who were active during the Suharto years is proposing a massive scheme that will include a giant sea wall, several large fresh-water drainage lagoons, and 17 artificial islands. The plan could greatly increase the city’s vulnerability to climate change and saddle the government with an expensive and problematic white elephant for decades to come.